oh happy dance! LA, by diana

i got my film back today. this is my first 120 film ever. and my first adventure with the Diana f+ camera. i thought i did so many screw ups with it so i'm sooo happy the photos that i wanted turned out. and i forgot to tape up the camera so i feared i would get lots of heavy light leaks ruining them, but no no no! i love them. these are from hollywood and santa monica pier and beach. in august.

sister blondie.

more pics from santa monica here and hollywood here & here.

film: fuji reala 100

lunch.

winter is the most beautiful season.
but oh, autumn is a darling..
i love all the earth colors.
and picking food from the ground!
gathering for the winter.
i didnt pick any blueberries or chanterelles this summer because i was busy,
but the apples make a great jam. for swedish pancakes.

saturday walk.

it was crispy cold. photos by stina.

happy friday!

today is the only free day i have this september. so i did all those important things.. scanned photos. created a photo project. i took the sunshine girls with me downtown as company while running little errands. we went to the armyshop and found cute german sailor shirts, we got one each. i bought some notebooks and left a film at the developers. i think the film failed inside the camera,but i hope it turns out. we talked about and planned our halloween party.
i will be jadis, maleficent or Dr frank-N-furter. haven't decided yet.

i dig archaeology. pictures from this september.

somewhere in northern sweden. bag it and tag it. my third dig so far.

get to read the landscape and play with very expensive equipment that does really cool things. but.. the little findings just can't be beat. oh the joy.

three more days.
it's like boot camp.
but without the military stuff!

sara and siv took the photos of me.
i took the rest.

home at weekends.

i am out in the field this september. i wasn't prepared for that really. but autumn makes everything more pretty, right before the leaves fall off.. that's the best time.. i'm happy i get to be outdoors and see it all every day. however it is still late summer in umeå. so i get the best of both. thanks!

these are tough weeks. it's been a couple of though days.. and i get home on weekends. i have a lot of things to do at home, but those will have to wait.. 300 years or so..!

*pictures from an ice age canyon. i loved it there.

today was my 25th birthday and we had a kalas.

mom was helga from germany and
dad was groucho marx.
i love this polaroid!

with our masks i bought for 35 kr each.
stina as charlie.. hilarious.

bro's.

the only thing i wished for was cake.

california polaroids.

San Francisco:

Los Angeles:

San Diego:

food clash.

• the only true american food i've been eating i guess is at the diners. i liked the vegetarian hamburgers there. i just love diners... other times i've tried to find italian or greek restaurants (love european food).
  
  

• the candy here is so far not much. but i've only been to safeway. there is still hope. i really wish swedish candy was available here. the "swedish fish" are ok when there isn't any better around. most candy look plastic, has a suspicious strong color or tastes like.. dishwash soap. i wanted to try twinkies but they looked a little too suspicious. i did try snowballs, but.. they weren't any good... the bags are BIG SIZE. like stock up HUGE. everything comes in big pack here.
• the american food culture seems to like fries and meat more than -candy-. but drinks are sweeter than the candy, americans seem to like sugar in all kinds of things more than actual candy. sweden has the most wonderful candy i tell you.. and instead no sugar in the food. overall, i missed my swedish food. i don't shop at IKEA in sweden, but abroad i would only got to IKEA lol.

• sprite and coca cola bottles are a little wider, and both has a sweeter taste compared to the swedish. uh.

• cheese is already slized here, and it doesn't taste much cheese. and why is it orange? trying to put cheese sticks on my toast was funny in the morning. but they were good compared to peanut butter... hm.
  
  

• i'm hearing that cupcakes here are way too sweet. i hope not.

• i've had cheesecake, and it was ok, but ugh, i couldn't even finish it.

• coffee is cheaper here. around 2 dollars cheaper. i love starbucks. acutally good we don't have starbucks in sweden. i'm not supposed to drink coffee. but oh i love mochas. i could have 3 in one day. dangerous!

but there was 3 things i loved..
mtn dew
milkshakes
and starbucks cafe mocha.

mtn dew is slowly being introduced to sweden, i saw some on a shelf a few weeks ago.. now i'm waiting for the other two..!

last day.

we had lunch at an italian restaurant in San Francisco.

somewhere on columbia avenue i think.

i like this city. it's nice.

i see many things here in california that reminds me of how

much i love europe. palo alto smells a little bit like crete.

but i will miss some things here.

the parts of Los Angeles that i saw and loved.
i am going to miss milkshakes.
the mtn dews.
miss the diners.
miss the palmtrees.
miss the cinemas.
the strange road signs.
all the cars parked on the roads.
not that taxes aren't included in prices though. that is confusing.

i never know how much to pay for stuff. i feel so silly asking.
and not the carpet floors.
or the way the water tastes.. swimming pool anyone?

the weather was absolutely perfect in california while i was here.
apparently people said it was a bit cold for the season.
thanks america. felt like umeå. san diego was an inch hotter though but good.

overall.. i loved it here. it has been a very positive stay.

other san fran posts are here and here

+++ i have HIM's vinyl now. stina got it for me here in america. happyness.

SF...

breakfast at stina's.

last day in america.

stina made us american pancakes with maple syrup.
yesterday i had toast with peanutbutter and jelly.
interesting food experience.
she went out before breakfast today, before i had woken up, and

got me a starbucks mocha.
how sweet is that. i love her!

palo alto.

i wanted to see death on the nile, but i missed it.

i wish sweden had cinemas like the ones here. there are old black and white movies showing and all kinds of other genres. i love it.
i also loved the vegan-restaurant we ate at here in palo alto. kind of reminded of chinese yet not. don't remember its name. i must say those pizza slize places are genius. i never tried frozen yoghurt though. there is so many different things to pick from here in america!

why are all my america posts about food?!